I think we've all seen the posters and trailers for the glut of recent horror movies. As someone who likes a good horror film I'm kinda appalled. 1960's & 70's horrors were cheap, nasty, full of ideas.
Now while the producers might want to keep the base focus of the story they were buying, changing up lots of background details can keep the story as original as it can be. Maybe expand the story in odd directions that could be useful in creating interest.
So here's a few suggestions how a few horror franchises could have proceeded if done at a certain time in history.
Friday The 13th- Let's says you change the setting of the murders to Nazi Germany. Jason is the "mentally challenged" son of a woman who was enjoying herself a little too much during the 1920's party era, who's baby-sitters, young accountants by day, were too busy cross-dressing and shooting heroin to pay attention, so he falls out of a window into a local river, apparently drowns. Jason's mother goes mad, becomes a cross-dressing razor slasher during the rise of the Nazi's, gets caught and killed by her own upper middle class peers, who are all heading towards the power, which is Nazi-ism. During the Nazi regime, while Poland is being invaded, Jason comes back from the grave, starts taking out those who killed him and his mother in brutal ways, as well as their families, these middle class people now rich, apparently isolated, snobbish, not wanting to hear of their youthful failings. Some of the youth are becoming soldiers for the cause but won't make it to the front line, are brutally murdered by a machete-wielding, brain-dead zombie Jason, who after massacring many a Nazi and more importantly, those who fund the invasions, heads towards Poland. The sequels will just write themselves.
A Nightmare On Elm Street - Little Freddy Krueger gets systematically sexually abused as a young soldier in world war 1 bunker. Even by Hitler. Was an idealistic young man who joined under-age and got horror upon horror thrown at him. Leaves the army after the war, tries to become an artist, gets burnt alive by a jealous Hitler, who can't sell one painting. As the expressionistic film stylisation finds its feet Freddy infects the dreams of the youth, as they watch the films, he tries to interest them into sex then murder at the moment that people are not expecting it. As a series of sex crimes infects down-town Berlin, no-one is sure where to turn. Through dreams, Freddy lures innocent young virgins of both sexes into opium dens and decadent night clubs, into nightmare situations, then even inspires more murder of leaves them to their consciences. Freddy is defeated by the rise of Nazi-ism, that abhors this decadence. Thus many of the places are closed and Freddy is left with only a few slash murders a week. Defeated once more by Hitler.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The US based franchise stays at home. At the rise of the depression, a mom and pop operation starts to expands, by cheerfully killing the poor that wander through in a desperate search for jobs, eating them yet also passing free human meat onto other poor and needy in the neighbourhoods. It's broken down as such. Local people are safe, their kids can play in the street without worry. Outsiders are meat. Eventually the kids in the neighbourhood get the idea and start killing entire travelling families to suck up to mom and pop. Mom and pop are happy with that arrangement. They like the power but stay modest. The kids grow up to be preppy, patriotic, interested in oil and god. That is the early story. In World War 2, many a young idealistic young man is asked to sign up and the preppies have made a pledge to go fight in Europe. Mom and pop disagree. Not their fight. Even though the depression is over times are tough so the preppies set up an elaborate series of games, trapping happy families travelling through area, putting them through a series of sick, torturous tests, many family members not surviving and becoming the meat, simply to distract Mom and Pop. As the games go on, the preppies disappear one by one, until none are left, all having gone to sign up for war, to be heroes. All their children gone, mom and pop are angry, brutally murder the survivors, are left to wait for the survivors of the war, their town empty.
So these are three simple ideas anyway, how you could simply change the settings, keep the bases of each story but have a new feel. Of course, would never happen in imagination impaired Hollywood.
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